I joined Checkatrade less than a year ago and i thought I would share my experience with you all. However its impossible for me to tell you how much work can be gained from your investment with Checkatrade. The simple reason for this is that it seems very area specific. I’m friends with many locksmiths all over the country and after speaking with lots of them it seems that where you live plays a huge factor in how much work you can gain from it.
Getting Started
Getting started with Checkatrade is not as simple as just signing up with an email address and password and away you go! You do need to put a little bit of effort in, as well as money to get listed on the site.
Once you register your interest with Checkatrade you will need to meet with one of there reps, very similar to trying to get an advert in the Yellow Pages.
If after your meeting with a Checkatrade rep you decide to go ahead you are required to provide some business details for them to check over. Such as:
- Proof of any qualifications
- Utility Bills ie proof of address
- Photo ID
- Business insurance
- Credit checks for limited company’s
You will also be required to provide some customers details for work you have carried out so they can get your customers feedback. This feedback also goes towards getting you your first reviews.
You also must sign some trading standards stuff and also the Checkatrade code of conduct.
Checkatrade Page
Once you get past all the checks you are then free to create your own Checkatrade page. This allows you make a nice looking landing page for you customers to view once they have found you through a Checkatrade search. You are also given your own team to look after you and a direct number to get hold of them if you get stuck.
Creating the page is pretty straight forward. Its just a case of adding text, banner image and company logo ect. Here’s the page we created for our locksmith Leeds listing.
Within the page are also separate links to:
- Reviews
- Gallery
- Services
- Back ground checks
All of which help to bulk up the content customers can view on your locksmith business.
What You Get With Checkatrade
Alongside your personalised page you also get:
- Included in search
- Access to membership appraisal line
- Free credibility reports
- Access to members only area
- Stickers for your vehicle
- Feedback cards to hand out to customers
- Members discounts
Checkatrade are also partnered with Payatrader to make it easier to take card payments. I previously wrote a post called Is Payatrader any good for locksmiths? which you can read to find out more info.
Member Benefits
The benefits change occasionally but at the time of writing this the benefits consist of discount on:
- Mercedes Vans
- Esso Fuel Cards
- Public Liability
- Phone Tariffs
- Various Work ware Deals
- Web Design And Development
Service Level
So far so good! I’m quite happy with the service level offered from Checkatrade. The staff seem really friendly and always really easy to get in contact with. I’ve not yet come across an issue that they haven’t been able to rectify immediately. From time to time they even call you to make sure everything is OK and to see if you need help with anything or have any questions.
Hope this gives you a bit of an in site into Checkatrade. Please feel free to share this post but please give credit via a link back to The Locksmith World or link directly to this post.
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